On Monday, August 31st, 1992, around 1 P.M. Heather took Hannah by Side Along Apparition to Skyward School of Practical Sorcery so they could have the mother-daughter moment Harry had suggested for them of mother and daughter being the very first two people to ever set foot on the fully built campus of Skyward School of Practical Sorcery.
Heather and Hannah were both wearing yellow tee shirts, yellow shorts, and yellow tennis shoes on this day. (Heather still banned Hannah from wearing high heels.)
The sky was purely blue and cloudless, and the summer sun shone overhead.
Heather and Hannah immediately looked around and took in their surroundings as they landed at the new campus.
"Mom, this is beautiful, " cooed Hannah.
"Is this Heaven?" piped up Heather.
"No, " said Hannah radiantly, "It's Skyward School of Practical Sorcery."
"It's been built to my EXACT specifications, " spoke Heather softly as tears of emotion filled her eyes, "This is my dream come true."
"It's perfect, " said Hannah, "It's a reasonably large campus but not so huge you'll lose your way all the time like at Hogwarts."
And indeed, it was as perfect as it could be.
The freshly dried concrete that made up the sidewalks was a shockingly pure white. The newly manicured grass was the lushest tent of green.
In a spot at the east end of the campus was a large body of water. It was like a gigantic swimming pool. The water within it was a sparkling shade of blue as the sun's rays shined down upon it. On the pool deck was a set of marble steps leading to two diving boards. There was a springboard diving board three meters high and a platform diving board ten meters high. On the west end of the campus was a large vat of sand.
The buildings rising up around them were made of distinct red clay brick and the windows and doors within them were made of the finest cured glass imaginable. Atop each of these red clay brick buildings were signs made of white block lettering that specified what each building was for. The classrooms had signs such as "Charms" and "Potions" atop them. Other types of buildings were labeled in ways such as, "Student Living Headquarters", "Student Club Area," and "Eating and Meeting Hall."
There were Mahogany and Cedar swings and benches sprinkled through the outdoors. Some small for one person and larger ones for multiple people to sit on, although none held exactly two people.
There were trees of various types for shade all around the perimeter as well various plants, some which grew flowers. There were pine trees, maple trees, oak trees, sycamore trees, willow trees, spruce trees, and cedar trees. The bushes grew roses, violets. daffodils, tulips, magnolias, daisies, and lilies.
"Let's do a walking tour of the campus," suggested Heather.
"Yes, mom, " agreed Hannah.
Heather and Hannah didn't talk much as they took their walking tour of the campus of Skyward School of Practical Sorcery. They didn't need too. In fact, it was better that they didn't.
There was a purity to this moment that was far more appropriately felt through images and feelings than through words.
Eventually, Heather and Hannah came across one particular bench.
This bench was painted the exact hue of yellow associated with the Yellow Quartet and just above it was a metal sign that read in paint this same hue of yellow Reserved for the Yellow Quartet.
"Hannah, " said Heather fondly, "This bench is strictly for Harry, Amy, Susan, and you. Even I will not sit on it right now."
"Thanks, mom, it was very thoughtful of you to include this bench in your plans for Skyward School of Practical Sorcery."
"Let's find the next multi person bench, " said Heather simply, "I want to sit down for a minute and a nanosecond."
So, mother and daughter walked on until they came upon a cedar bench designed to hold three people and both Heather and Hannah sat down on this bench a little bit apart from each other so both had comfortable space but could still see and sense the other.
As Heather and Hannah quietly took in their surroundings from the bench, Heather was overcome with emotion.
Everything Heather had dreamed of about having and running her own school was no longer just a dream. It was now a reality.
Heather's eyes quickly filled with tears that streamed down her cheeks as she made no effort to control or contain them.
"I'm one of the luckiest people in the world, " said Heather chokily, "How many people have dreams that are never fulfilled? Mine have been."
Heather looked around the outdoor portion of the campus some more and allowed herself to really take the moment in. Hannah had a few questions, but she was respectful and patient enough to let her mom have her space until her emotion subsided. When it did, it was Heather who asked Hannah, "Do you have any questions, Hannah?"
"Yes, mom, " admitted Hannah calmly.
"Fire away then, " said Heather encouragingly.
"Was Skyward School of Practical Sorcery built by house elves?" asked Hannah curiously.
"No answered Heather, "House elves would not be capable of construction work. Muggle construction work is too physically demanding for house elves and while house elves have very powerful magic, their magic is not complex enough to do magical construction work. "
"Well, " said Hannah clearly, "I know you didn't build it yourself so who did?"
"The way Skyward School of Practical Sorcery was constructed is a magical trade secret, " said Heather in a businesslike voice, "The company that did the work is called Constantly Conjuring Creations. I hired Constantly Conjuring Creations to build Skyward School of Practical Sorcery and they in turn hired a massive team of witches and wizards to magically create Skyward School of Practical Sorcery."
"I should have realized that there is no way one person could have built all this by himself or herself, especially in less than a year, " said Hannah matter of factly.
"Let's take a look at the inside now, " said Heather eagerly.
"Let's go, " said Hannah excitedly.
Heather and Hannah walked through the door to the Charms building. The first thing that they saw was a long marble hallway that connected all the buildings so that people could access any building once they were inside.
"It's very comfortable inside, " observed Hannah.
"The temperature inside all of the buildings has been naturally set to room temperature, which is sixty eight degrees. Though some people consider room temperature as a range from sixty eight to seventy two degrees. The lighting has been magically set to bright. These settings can be changed within each individual building if necessary for certain activities or circumstances."
"Cool!" cooed Hannah.
"There's no point in looking at the classrooms yet, " explained Heather, "Each teacher will arrange his or her own classroom in his or her own way. Similarly, there's no point in looking in the school clubs area yet either as different clubs will meet at different times, and spaces will be arranged differently based on each club. But I think you would love to see what's going to be your room while you are at Skyward School of Practical Sorcery?"
"I'd love that!" said Hannah happily.
So, Heather and Hannah walked into the Student Living Area. Each room had a golden nameplate towards the top of it with its owner's name engraved on the nameplate in silver. They continued on until they came across the room with the nameplate bearing the name Hannah Abbott and then they stepped inside Hannah's room at Skyward School of Practical Sorcery.
"OOH!" cried Hannah breathlessly as she looked around at her room be.
"Mom, it is wonderful," said Hannah contently.
Heather and Hannah could see a beautiful brass bed which was adorned with a bright vivid yellow bedsheet and a bright vivid yellow pillowcase covered what was obviously a very thick and fluffy pillow. There was a mahogany dresser and matching desk as well as an oak bookshelf. There was a closet with space for clothes and in a small corner sat Hannah's trunk. An alarm clock with shiny large red digital numbers sat atop the bookshelf, which was at the head of her bed. The bed, bookshelf, and closet lay at the south side of the room. The dresser, desk, and trunk sat in a row on the north side of the room.
Instinctively, Hannah tried out her bed.
"So soft and comfortable, " said Hannah glowingly, "I'll sleep well in this bed!"
"Feel free to decorate your room however you want so long as you keep it free of sexual content, " Heather told Hannah.
"I'm a lucky girl to have gotten such a nice room, " said Hannah warmly.
"All students are banned from the kitchens, " said Heather clearly, "But let's go check out the Eating and Meeting Hall."
Hannah got up from her bed and followed her mom to the Eating and Meeting Hall.
As with the bench outside, there was a reserved table for four for the Yellow Quartet with four yellow chairs tucked under it. This table, like the Yellow Quartet's bench, had simply been painted yellow. All of the tables and chairs were made of oak. The Yellow Quartet's table was at the far west side of the Eating and Meeting Hall.
"So," said Hannah radiantly, "Harry, Amy, Susan and I have a reserved table in here too?"
"Yep!" grinned Heather, "And even I won't sit on it. It's a still few hours till dinnertime. But I've arranged for a couple of the house elves to set out a midafternoon treat for us. We've just got to find it. "
Heather and Hannah walked through the Eating and Meeting Hall until they came across two golden bowls with mint ice cream topped with rainbow sprinkles in them, two silver spoons, and two silver goblets filled with Budweiser.
"Dig in!" Heather told Hannah.
Like much of the day, eating the mint ice cream with rainbow sprinkles and sipping the Budweiser together was a nice and quiet mother and daughter moment for Heather and Hannah. They sat and ate and drank slowly and quietly just contently enjoying the presence of each other and their surroundings. Once the ice cream and Budweiser were gone, Hannah said, "Mom, I want another walk together outside."
"Ask and you shall receive!" said Heather kindly.
Heather and Hannah went back outside and took in the outdoors of Skyward School of Practical Sorcery again via another walk.
They weren't overly chatty, but made comments to other such as, "Look at all those pretty flowers", "The lushness of the lawn is perfect", and "I love the red clay brick design. "
When their legs couldn't take any more walking, Heather and Hannah plopped down on a bench and took it all in from there.
Heather, feeling inwardly satisficed, burst into song:
"When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are. Anything your heart desires will come to you. If your heart is in your dream, no request is too extreme. When you wish upon a star as dreamers do. Like a bolt out of the blue, fate steps in and sees you through. When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true."
Heather wasn't a great singer, but the feeling in her voice as she had sung was palpable to Hannah, who could feel how much it meant to her mom to see Skyward School of Practical Sorcery become a reality.
Slowly, Heather and Hannah approached each other and embraced each other in a super tight hug.
"I'm so grateful to have shared this first arrival as a mother daughter moment," said Heather sincerely.
"So I am, " agreed Hannah, "Much love to Harry for suggesting this."
Heather nodded.
This first time at Skyward School of Practical Sorcery for Heather and Hannah had been a pure mother daughter and neither of them would trade it for anything.
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